Research

New York State Department of State Letters of Administration and Copies of Wills of Out-of-State Residents

Held by the New York State Archives

Overview of the Records

Repository:

New York State Archives

New York State Education Department

Cultural Education Center

Albany, NY 12230

Summary:

This series consists of letters of administration, letters testamentary, and wills of out-of-state residents. The letters
of administration provide the name and residence of the deceased, persons named as the intestate's administrator, residence,
date executed, signature of witness, and filing date. The copies of the wills provide the testator's and executor's name and
residence, date of will, place of filing, names of witnesses, and provisions.

Arrangement

B0081-92: Chronological by filing date and numerical by document number.

Scope and Content Note

This series consists of letters of administration, letters testamentary, copies of wills of out-of-state residents, and (very
few) items of correspondence that were generated by Chapter 70 of the Laws of 1823. That law required that letters of administration
and copies of wills of persons dying out of state and of persons dying within the state who were not state residents and were
probated in the Surrogate Court be filed with the Secretary of State. Letters of administration authorize the administration
of the goods or estate of a deceased person; letters testamentary authorize the executor of a will to act.

The letters of administration provide the name and residence of the deceased, persons named as the intestate's adminstrator,
residence, date executed, signature of witness, and filing date. The copies of the wills provide the testator's and executor's
name and residence, date of will, place of filing, names of witnesses, and provisions.

B0081-92: The majority of records in this accretion are copies of last will and testaments filed for probate, with some ancillary
letters testamentary. They are estrayed records that fill gaps within previous accretions to the series.

Use of Records

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions regarding access to or use of this material.

Related Information

Related Materials

Series B0083 Indexes to Wills and Letters of Administration, 1823-1930, partially indexes this series.

Custodial History

B0081-92: These records were transferred from the Archives to the Albany County Hall of Records as part of a return of unrelated
local records (designated as series #676). They were returned to the Archives in May 1992.

Processing Information

B0081-78A: During May 2002, the three boxes of this accretion were merged into B0081-78. These boxes (87-89) were originally
transferred to the Archives from the State Library.